WHITING, Ind. -- The University of St. Francis baseball team scored in double figures in both ends of its doubleheader versus Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) to gain a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep at Oil City Stadium on Monday afternoon by scores of 15-7 and 22-10.  The Saints used a five-run third inning in the opener and six multi-run innings in the nightcap to fuel the two wins and move into a tie for first place in the league standings with Saint Xavier University.

Mitchell Thomas had a big day, totaling seven hits and five RBIs with six runs scored over the two games.  The Saints also collected 11 total RBIs from the left field and designated hitter positions courtesy of Cliff Vickers (6-for-8, 7 RBIs, 3 runs) and Brian Graves (6-for-9, 4 RBIs, 5 runs).

Along with Thomas, Vickers and Graves, five additional St. Francis players registered multi-hit games on the day with Max Montgomery (5-for-11, 6 RBIs) authoring multiple hits and multiple RBIs in each end of the twinbill.  Nate Maliska (2-for-7, 6 walks), Jake Klepacz (4-for-8, 1 walk), Jake Merda (2-for-7, 1 walk) and Drew Dant (2-for-7, 4 walks) also recorded multi-hit contests.

In total, St. Francis (19-22, 15-9 CCAC) collected 34 hits on the day and was the benefactor of 28 free passes (19 walks, 9 hit-by-pitches) from the Calumet pitching staff.

Game 1:  USF 15, Calumet St. Joseph 7
After both teams exchanged a quartet of runs over the first two innings of play, the Saints put the game out of reach with a five-run third inning.  St. Francis would go on to score at least one run in each inning outside of the final frame to widen the gap before settling for the 15-7 final score.

Head coach Brian Michalak's club wasted little time in scoring its first runs of the day with Nate Maliska and Max Montgomery recording back-to-back doubles to start the game.  Ethan Fleming would notch a RBI later in the frame via a fielder's choice, while Jake Merda provided his two RBIs in the game with sacrifice flies in the second and third innings. 

Vickers authored USF's third double in the third inning to drive home a run, while Montgomery and Maliska posted RBIs in the fourth and fifth stanzas, respectively.  In the sixth, Klepacz singled to left field to plate Vickers before Thomas pushed home the 15th run with a groundout to second base.

Maliska (four walks) and Vickers (three) coaxed seven of the 11 free passes for USF hitters in the game.  Drew Dant added two walks to the total, while Graves and Fleming each provided one.

Sean Michalak (5-1) extended his winning streak to three games on the mound with the complete-game victory.  In seven innings of work, he allowed five runs, while striking out four batters against one walk.

Game 2:  USF 22, Calumet St. Joseph 10
The Saints scored early and often to cruise to the Game 2 victory.  They put up two runs in the first inning, followed by matching three-run frames in the second and fourth stanzas.  Vickers later cleared the bases with his two-run double in the fourth inning to open up an 8-2 lead before Montgomery came through with a two-run blast over the outfield wall in the fifth to push the Saints' run total to 10.

Calumet (6-25, 3-19) refused to go quietly, however, as the Crimson Wave exploded for seven runs between the fourth and fifth innings - including a six-run uprising in the latter frame - to come within one run of tying the game at 10-9.

In the sixth, Thomas gave St. Francis some breathing room after connecting for a two-out double to plate Klepacz, but Calumet was quick to match the offensive effort with a single run of its own in its half of the seventh inning.  The big hit for the Saints, however, came in the eighth inning when Thomas connected for a towering two-run home run to extend USF's lead to three runs at 13-10.

The day would end the same way it started with back-to-back doubles – this time from Merda and Vickers – beginning the scoring in the final frame.  That was just the start of the onslaught of runs in the inning as the Saints would explode for nine runs courtesy of seven hits and two CCSJ errors.

Thomas (four RBIs) and Vickers (six) each racked up five hits in the contest and drove in nearly half of the team's runs with 10 total RBIs.  Montgomery (four) and Graves (three) provided another seven to the total.

Cristopher Villwock (4-0) earned the win on the mound for the Saints.  He, Quinn McGuire and Zac Blazekovich all saw time in relief, giving up just one earned run between the three over the final five innings.

Up Next
The Saints will have the next three days off before hosting the Titans of Indiana University South Bend on Friday, April 18.  The CCAC doubleheader is set to begin at 1 pm.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.